1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatuses for harvesting of grain and seed crops and more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved combine harvester for harvesting grain and seed crops which includes a double unloading auger system for unloading in both directions of travel harvested feed grains produced in one round or two lengths of a field to storage area of transport vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is generally known, modern combine harvesters for harvesting grain and seed crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans and the like and corn pickers have over the past many years increased significantly their throughput capacity. Simultaneously, the number of acres in the average farm in the United States has grown dramatically with the crop fields becoming larger and longer. It is not uncommon to have fields with each row therein measuring one-half mile in length. As a result, the amount of harvested crop produced in one round or two lengths during the back-and-forth harvesting of the field has also increased significantly.
In the conventional combine harvesters, the harvested grain is stored in an on-board grain bin or tank until the end of the field is reached. Then, the grain is removed from the grain tank by a main unloading auger positioned within an unloading chute disposed on one side of the combine harvester. This unloading chute permits the grain to be transferred into a bulk transport vehicle such as a truck or wagon, which is positioned on the one side of the combine harvester where the exit port of the unloading chute is located. Thus, these conventional combine harvesters suffer from the disadvantage that it must be unloaded from this one side only.
During the back-and-forth harvesting, at one end of the field the transport vehicle will not be able to receive grain from the combine harvester since the unloading chute will be on the other side of the combine harvester. This may necessitate that the transport vehicle be driven through the unharvested crop so that it will on the same side where the unloading chute of the combine harvester is located, thereby causing undesirable damage or destruction to the crop.
Further, due to the combine harvester having increased throughput coupled with the longer length fields, it has been found that the on-board storage tank has insufficient capacity to store the grain harvested during one round of the field having a length of one-half mile. Therefore, when the storage tank is full the combine harvester must be stopped and emptying the grain into a waiting truck. Alternatively, in order to increase efficiency the combine harvester may unload grain into a moving truck as both are moving in one direction while the combine harvester is continuously harvesting the grain. However, these techniques of unloading the grain has the same disadvantage in that it can be only accomplished for one length of the field again without requiring the truck to be driven through a swath of unharvested crop.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved combine harvester for unloading of grain in both direction of travel of the field into a transport vehicle while the combine is continuously harvesting the grain. It would also be expedient that the combine harvester include a double unloading auger system which is relatively simply and inexpensive in design, construction and operation.
A prior art search directed to the subject matter of this application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed the following Letters Patent and application:
3,589,1113,825,1384,236,5304,274,7904,432,4995,584,6406,058,6886,712,691
In addition to the above listed prior art patents, there were also found Patent Application Nos. 2003/0022706 dated Jan. 30, 2003 and 2004/0067125 dated Apr. 8, 2004.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,138 to Pool issued on Jul. 23, 1974, there is disclosed an unloader for a grain bin of a combine which includes a pair of transverse augers for feeding grain to a vertical auger. A swinging boom assembly is mounted on top of the vertical auger and includes a turret and a horizontal pipe having an auger located therein. The boom assembly communicates with a vertical pipe containing the vertical auger so as to receive grain therefrom and deliver it to a wagon or truck.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,530 to Johnson issued on Dec. 2, 1980, there is taught a grain harvester and thrashing machine which includes first and second horizontal augers located in the bottom of a bin. The first horizontal auger discharges into a downwardly directed chute which feeds downwardly into a main vertical auger tube. The second horizontal auger feed directly into the main vertical auger tube. A vertical auger is located within the main vertical auger tube and discharges into a main horizontal discharge auger tube having an auger. The auger will move the grain for ultimate discharge into a vehicle passing next to the thrashing machine. The horizontal discharge auger tube is pivotally attached to the vertical auger tube so as to allow it to be swung at right angles with respect to the machine for unloading into a truck.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,499 to Henkensiefken et al. issued on Feb. 21, 1984, there is taught a portable feed grinder-mixer which includes a pair of cooperating parallel, first and second horizontal auger conveyors extending across the bottom of a mixing bin in a side-by-side relationship for moving material in opposite directions. The second auger is driven by a hydraulic reversible orbit motor which receives its hydraulic fluid under pressure from a pump. A pair of vertical augers are spaced axially and cooperate with the respective first and second horizontal augers. A lift conveyor is connected to a swingably mounted distribution conveyor having an auger disposed therein. This auger is driven by a second hydraulic motor for carrying the material outwardly to its discharge end portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,640 issued on Dec. 17, 1996 to Johnson discloses a grain combine having an unloading auger drive system which includes two hydraulically operated devices in which the load on one of the devices is a function of the rate of operation of the other device. In particular, a traverse auger conveyor delivers grain from the lower part of a grain tank to an upright auger conveyor. The transverse auger conveyor is driven by a first hydraulic motor, and the upright auger conveyor is driven by a second hydraulic motor. A pressure responsive valve is responsive to a pressure signal which corresponds to the load on the second motor driving the upright auger so as to unload the first motor driving the transverse auger upon start-up. As the amount of grain in the upright auger decreases, the pressure signal will also decrease so as to cause the first motor to operate faster for increasing the amount of grain being fed into the upright auger. On the other hand, if the amount of grain in the upright auger increases, the pressure signal will also increase so as to cause the first motor to operate slower for decreasing the amount of grain being fed by the transverse auger to the upright auger.
The remaining patents, listed above but not specifically discussed, are deemed to be only of general interest and show the state of the art in combine harvesters for harvesting crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans, and the like which includes an unloading auger drive system for transferring grain into a storage compartment of a transport vehicle such as a truck.
None of the prior art discussed above disclosed a combine harvester for harvesting grain and seed crops like that of the present invention which includes a double unloading auger system for unloading in both directions of travel harvested feed grains produced in one round or two lengths of a field to storage area of transport vehicle.